Not since 1966...

WE KNEW IT WAS BAD, BUT...

Though we here at LPP often break out with a case of the Toldyaso’s when the very ineptitude we’ve been monitoring and flagging for years rears its ugly head and shreds the Broncos on a particular Sunday, we have to say in the aftermath of week 5: It’s even worse than we thought. How can we say it better than the combination of the Rocky Mountain News (Bernie Lincicome, writer) and the Mastermind himself:

Bernie Lincicome: "If Shanahan took the blame for this, it is the least he could do. His handling of Cutler so far has progressed to Cutler getting no touchdowns at all instead of his usual one or two. The crowd, had it bothered to stick around, couldn't even yell for a new quarterback. If it did, the chant would be something like, "Send in what's-his-name." Cutler is the course Shanahan has chosen, and if he never imagined it could be this bad, this bad it is. And not getting any better."

Said Shanahan: “I did a very poor job getting this football team ready. I don't know if I've ever been more embarrassed. It starts with me and I did a poor job getting them ready.”

We noticed, coach. We’ve been noticing. Now the writers who get paid to do this are saying what we’ve been handing out for free: Shanahan has championships, respect and a ton of money. Walking away would not taint his legacy. Watching him decline into a predictable, shakable, beatable coach definitely will, and the decline didn’t just start yesterday. If something drastic doesn’t occur starting at the top of the organization the season, the quarterback, the coach, and indeed the franchise’s next three to five years will be torpedoed completely.

It took Norv “Stomach” Turner of all people to cut the head off of this horse and leave it in Shanahan’s bed as bloody, gruesome proof that the game is starting to pass him by. When the list of similar coaches is reviewed, Shanahan is not in embarrassing company by any means: Chuck Noll; Tom Landry; Don Shula; Mike Ditka…all respected, all successful. All of them hit a wall at some point and had to pack it in, whether gracefully or abruptly. We’ve never said that Shanahan wasn’t a good coach in his prime. He was a perfect fit to regulate and manage a team full of All-Pro talent, which can be just as difficult as managing a team in the Belichek “minimal superstars” vein. But he is not a developmental coach. He’s not going to build a team into a real contender anymore, at least not in the head coach position. Denver came close a couple of years ago, but they’ve simply been outgunned talent-wise (particularly by flat-out loaded Colts squads) and it takes a different kind of coach than “Steady as She Goes” Shanahan to pull a lesser-talented team past a powerhouse. Also of importance is his ability to groom young players. He rarely does more than let them work out their own kinks. Jay Cutler has franchise-carrying tools, but he doesn’t know how to use them yet. He’s a project, and Mike Shanahan has never developed a young quarterback into a star; he’s only really groomed the Grieses and Grbacs of the world. That’s not something you leave on your resume.

The locker room is starting to crack (see Marshall, Brandon. Also the fondly remembered Darrent Williams spoke out last year about “quitsies,” and if anything, the guy’s many friends on the roster would have more reason to think “You know what, man? Darrent was on to something.”) The “fans” are getting the “Elway Clenches” in their sphincters and are only waiting for their condition to evolve into the stage where they start making up stupid derogatory nicknames for Jay Cutler (and don’t you dare point out “Pumpkin Pie,” that one’s done out of love.) The current roster was never going to roll to the Super Bowl, but they should be better than a team that’s two kicks away from 0-5. I mean, Holy Reversals Batman, the Raiders sat at home for their bye week and somehow ended up in first place! For once this season, Shanahan nailed it: It starts with him. It’s time for a different approach. And maybe he should have...


LET PLUMMER PLAY!!!